


Fire Alarms

by Withstarryeyes



Series: Soft College Boiiis [10]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Always wearing Steve's clothes, Artist Steve Rogers, Cute, Dorks in Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Football Player Steve, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, M/M, Panic Attacks, Romance, SHIELD University, Steve Rogers plays football, Student Steve Rogers, Student Tony Stark, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark has Anxiety, Tony has anxiety, Tony has panic attacks, Tony is Smol, Tony is scrawny, Tony-centric, smol tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 08:47:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18891202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Withstarryeyes/pseuds/Withstarryeyes
Summary: “Shush!!” Steve hissed, waving a dish table at the fire alarm, hoping that it would make it stop beeping. It didn’t of course. The nerve.Or... Steve sets off the fire alarms while making dinner and finds out Tony's afraid of them.





	Fire Alarms

“Shush!!” Steve hissed, waving a dish table at the fire alarm, hoping that it would make it stop beeping. It didn’t of course. _The nerve._

“Steve,” Tony said and Steve looked over his shoulder at the alarmingly wet words. Tony had his face buried in his sweatshirt, the collar over his nose. His eyes were red-rimmed and his nose was a plush pink. “Do we need to leave? Is it safe to stay here?”

Steve paused his movements, his face flushed from the heat pumping out of their oven. He’d pushed his hair back with his hands while running around the small apartment, slamming windows open and cursing, and now Steve could feel the errant strands drooping in his face. He was breathing heavy and the scent of paprika, garlic and celery hung in a dense cloud around them. 

“No, Tones. It’s okay.”

Tony frowned and took off his glasses, patting at his eyes with the sleeves of the sweatshirt. Only now did Steve notice that it was his, three sizes too big for Tony’s petite frame. It was an old one from high school. It had a small paint palette on it and under it, in small, serif letters, Brooklyn High Art Club was printed. Now, after Tony had used it to wipe his eyes, it had small wet spots on the sleeves where Tony’s hands were tucked inside. “It’s loud,” Tony whimpered and Steve nodded, clearing his throat and wondering what to do. 

It _was_ loud. The alarms were wailing and there were three of them total in their small, two bedroom apartment. He wondered if he was handling it wrong. If it was just easier to call the fire department than to sprint around, waving a cloth at the alarm in the hopes that it would suddenly determine the humid air safe again. For what it was worth, there was no smoke, and the pile of vegetables that Steve had been roasting wasn’t even completely burnt, only charred on the top. 

He stepped down from the stool he was standing on and crossed the room to Tony, wrapping him up in his arms. “Are you okay?” Steve whispered and felt Tony’s hot breath on his neck, too quick and shallow. 

“Mm-hmm,” Tony said, the words quiet and muffled under Steve’s chest. He put his head onto of Tony’s, feeling the thin, fluffy strands tickle his chin. 

“Just give it a minute. They’ll stop.”

“Promise?” 

Steve pulled back and bent his knees until he was at the same height as Tony. He had his eyes shut behind his gold, wire-frame glasses and his eyelashes were stuck together with tears. His cheeks, once pale and smooth, were ruddy and the tears on his cheeks were starting to dry, leaving behind tight, salty skin. 

“Hey, I used to live in a shithole apartment in New York. Trust me, this happens all the time. The olive oil sometimes tricks the alarms when it heats up and they go off.”

“L-last time the fire alarms went off, I got a second-degree burn,” Tony stumbled over the words and Steve felt his throat clogged up. “I was a junior in high school,” he said as if to fill in why Steve had never heard of it, “Chem experiment gone wrong. Howard had been, understandably, angry. But he didn’t even let me process the pain over my arm before ripping into me.”

Steve clutched Tony even tighter and placed a small kiss into the part of Tony’s hair. “I’m sorry,” the words were, perhaps, quieter than Tony’s but he felt Tony nod under him and press back into Steve. And, as quick as they had begun, the smoke alarms quieted. “There,” Steve said, “See? All gone.”

Tony pulled back then, giving his eyes another swipe with a sweatshirt-clad paw and letting a small, if sad, smile grace his face. He nodded, embarrassed.

“S-sorry.”

Steve shook his head, pulling off the apron he’d been wearing with one large pal, and ducking in close to Tony’s face. “Don’t be. We’re all afraid of things.” 

“Still...” Tony’s face hadn’t returned to its natural color, instead, the strawberry stain had spread to the tip of his nose, connecting his ears in a stripe of blush. Steve pressed a kiss there, right in the center of the color on his nose, and Tony let out a wet laugh. 

“ _Still..._ you are one of the smartest, bravest, kindest people I have ever met, and one small fear of smoke alarms isn’t going to change my mind on that,” Steve said, planting a hand on the right side of Tony’s face and tilting his head to the right, letting his lips connect to Tony’s and adding pressure. Tony came up to meet him, melting against Steve, clasping his hands at the nape of Steve’s neck. Steve moved his unoccupied hand to the side of Tony’s left hip and stroked his thumb up and down the bone. 

Tony stepped forward and Steve followed, letting Tony lead him back until his knees pressed against their couch. He sat down and pulled Tony on top of him. moving from kissing his mouth to his neck so Tony could wrap his legs around Steve’s lap. Tony let out a small mewl when Steve nipped at the hollow of Tony’s neck and Steve smiled against his skin, coming back to reclaim Tony’s mouth. 

On the counter, their attempt at dinner stayed, rapidly cooling. And above them were the smoke alarms that Steve had twisted off their post, dangling like mistletoe. But neither Steve nor Tony cared, in this silence, and the heat from their oven, about what had happened. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this series but I hope that you like this chapter. If you did like it, please leave a kudos or a comment. I love getting feedback and it really helps me gauge interest. If you have anything you would like to see in further chapters feel free to leave me a suggestion. Hope you have a wonderful day!!
> 
> -C


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